SLAVE WORLD OR FREE WORLD. Gouache and photocollage maquette. 1942.
33 1/2x25 1/2 inches, 85x64 3/4 cm. Condition B+: water staining in top right margin; foxing in margins and image; unobtrusive tape removal marks around signature. Gouache, pencil and collage elements on artist board.
One of over 2200 submissions sent in by professional artists for The Museum Of Modern Art's 1942 competition. The aim was to have posters created to boost morale for the war, letting artists choose between 8 themes: Production, War Bonds, The Nature Of The Enemy, Loose Talk, Slave World Or Free World, The People Are On The March, Deliver Us From Evil, and Sacrifice. Only 9 winners were chosen, and this example, not one of the winners, was never printed as a poster. They were judged anonymously, so each original work had the artist's signature covered with tape for the assessment. These original works were deaccessioned from the MoMA in the 1980s.
